According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the state produced 1.9 million tons of hay in 2012, down from 2.4 million tons the previous year and the lowest hay production since 2002.

Overall acreage for alfalfa hay was down by 145,000 acres total; acreage for other types of hay was down 100,000 acres to the lowest point since 1919.

Todd Ballard, of the Statistics Service's Wyoming Field Office, tells the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that end-of-year hay stocks are down 27 percent from last January. They are at their lowest levels since 1950.

The hay shortage has caused skyrocketing prices for the crop with alfalfa going for upward of $215 a ton in November, compared to $145 the previous year.